Elect Esrati Volunteer Opportunities

If you see a basketball net with a bright green bottom, I hung it. If you see a rim without a net, or with a poor excuse for one- call 985-1312 and I’ll get one out and hung.

That’s the message that isn’t on my campaign literature. It’s what I’ve been doing since the beginning of June, hanging nets on what passes for rims and backboards in Dayton.

I had to spend over 4 hours pulling stink trees and other opportunistic weeds out of the three courts at the old Parkside homes. I’ve hung nets on rims with rust so bad one kid said “yeah, when you score you get rust in your eye.” I’ve seen rims with nets hung with knots, tape and even shoelaces. We’ve got rims missing hooks, rims built for chains, which never got replaced. Backboards are just as bad- rusty if made of metal, rotting if made of wood (seriously, who bought wood backboards for outdoors). One is recognized by all old-school players as having been eaten up for years- it looks like a dragon bit the bottom off.

To pay for the nets- I’ve been using campaign funds and asking donations from the ultimate local business: barber shops and beauty salons. I go in, tell them what I’m doing – show them my posters- and ask them to sponsor a net. Most sponsor more than pne. I take a picture of them with the poster- put it online and hang the poster in the shop. Check out the pix at www.hoopsdayton.org My donations come from the community, not from DC or Columbus or the ‘burbs, but from the people who live and work here. I’m just as happy to accept $2 as $200, which is what a box of 100 nets costs me at Tuffy Brooks. That’s the crazy thing- nets actually cost less than yard signs. I’d much rather put up a net and do something positive in the community than place a yard sign. It takes a lot more effort to hang a net too- between hauling the ladder (I’ve had to hike it across a few football fields to get to some courts- like Western Hills) and doing court cleanups.

The support has been fantastic at many levels. But the real question is how come our city, which always has a million bucks for a developer, or a tax break for the world’s richest companies- can’t keep nets on rims? Or take care of the courts? Just yesterday, the City Manager rolled the convention center into the department of Parks and Rec- calling it one of the “entrepreneurial departments.” Really? He wants to make money off providing parks and rec? This is the kind of thinking in City Hall that makes me run. Having nice parks is economic development in my book- as are safe streets and neighborhoods. Not by having buildings like Tech Town that sit mostly empty and compete with private developers.

One of the series of posters I’ve been asking for sponsorship for.

As one of my posters says “Next time a politician asks for your backing, ask them about our backboards.” Joey Williams, a former Dunbar basketball star has been on the commission for 12 years- with at least 2 supporting votes the entire time. Apparently, rusty backboards and rims, cracks in the courts, and not turning on the water in parks like Hickorydale is OK with him- as long as we have nice privately developed student housing for students at Sinclair.

I think not. If you’d like to help, please donate at www.electesrati.com/donate-2 After I hit my cap of $10,000, all money will go into a fund to start buying new backboards and rims and getting them up. I’ll need help from someone who knows how to weld when that time comes.

If you see a rim that needs a new net call 937-985-1312

If you’d like to change our city’s focus on what constitutes “economic development” and believe it should be “Parks and Rec” – not “Parks are a wreck” please volunteer for the campaign.

Last call. Saturday night, March 16, 2013, you can come to my home, and be served my amazing chicken parmigiana. It’s famous on three continents, and has won over my cantankerous father who claims not to like chicken.

The ultimate chocolate cake and the Raspberry orgasm cake.

Of course, this is a fundraiser- it’s $125 per person for my Dayton City Commission race. Not only will you have fabulous fare including Rahn’s Artisan Bread, unsalted Amish Butter from The Spice Rack, a spinach salad with the fantastic olive oils and balsamics from The Olive Tree, my mother’s incredible orzo with vegetables, then, you’ll get to eat these desserts made by my friend and neighbor Loni Litten. Trust me, they alone are worth the price of admission.

After dinner coffee will be from Ghostlight Coffee.

You’ll be the first to see the new campaign literature and hear the vision for the Dayton of the future.

This morning I realized there is no way we can eat all of these two fabulous cakes- so, at 8 p.m. we will have limited tickets at $50 per person to come have cake, coffee, ice cream and to hear the plan. $50 per person http://electesrati.com/?p=1049

We’ll need to raise a bit more money to finish the primary campaign strong and propel the campaign forward against the winner of the Republican primary (most likely Mike Turner). So, please join me and many of the volunteers at Ghostlight Coffee, 1201 Wayne Ave from 7pm to 9:00 pm for a fundraiser.

We’ll have desserts (you may bring one to donate or in lieu of a donation)- and coffee will be available for purchase from our hosts. Live music is being confirmed as I write this.

We’ll have campaign materials, show you how to use our campaign tools and have our classic ringer T-shirts available for donations of over $25. We’re also going to have hand crafted coffee cozys for donations over $50.

If all you ever read about me was what you saw in the Dayton Daily News…

Or, what you heard from the people in power whom I’ve questioned and exposed on this site….

Or from people who might have met me once- or thought they knew me….

You’d have some choice descriptions. The first time the DDN called me a “political gadfly” – I had to look it up, and that was probably one of the nicer things they ever said. I once carefully edited what they wrote into a t-shirt, taking “A political maverick” out of context- to turn their lemons into lemonade.

Needless to say, there are people who really do know me. They’d tell you a different story. Hopefully, you are one of them.

Some contribute to this site. I’ve known “Bubba Jones” since Wright State. Some of you, I’ve met thanks to this site. Some of you- I’ve never met.

But, for some reason, you keep coming back (Ice Bandit- if you were in the Kettering Rec locker room last Sunday night- and I didn’t make the connection…. so help me).

Well- here is your chance to tell the world what you really think.

I’m looking to film people who think that what I do on this site, in our community, in my business, in my own way… somehow has made Dayton either a bit better or at least more interesting.

We’ll film you- your choice of locations. We’ll edit a piece together on why you think David Esrati should have a shot at going to Congress and trying to change things for those of us who still have to go to work every day. We’ll let you approve the final. We’ll make you look good.

On my first campaign piece for Mayor- I had this quote:

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903) “Maxims for Revolutionists”

A few readers have sent me messages asking why not as many posts of late? Did the Monarchy of Montgomery County stop being evil? Did your tax dollars all of a sudden just get diverted to providing actual needed governmental service? Did our political leaders all just wake up and realize that it’s not about politics- but community service? Hardly.

It’s called my-domestic-partner-is-in-Philly-on-business and I’m a single parent. Kudos to all single parents- it’s a huge responsibility and a lot of work. So far- no food poisoning thanks to my cooking, or injuries due to neglect.

I’ve also been collecting signatures for my City Commission run this year. Matt Joseph and Dean Lovelace are up for re-election and I believe you should have a choice in a primary- that means more than four candidates which will force a primary. Of course, I believe that the primary doesn’t serve the citizens- actually reducing choice- if we moved to Instant Run-off Voting– we could save an election, cut the campaign time- and give independents a better shot in this supposedly “non-partisan” election. It’s non-partisan in that party names don’t appear on the ballot- not that it matters.

I got a letter from the Montgomery County Democratic Party– of which I am a member- announcing that “This year. we ask your support once again as we work to keep Matt Joseph and Dean Lovelace on the Dayton City Commission” by buying tickets to their “Frolic for Funds.”

Note- the petitions aren’t due yet, the candidates haven’t filed- yet the party has already picked candidates.

How “Democratic” is that? In fact- is part of the cost of this mailing being borne by the candidates?

Shouldn’t it read “This year. we ask your support once again as we work to keep Democrats on the Dayton City Commission”

I have to collect 500+ signatures of registered Dayton voters by 4 March 2011 and turn in notarized petitions. If you’d like to help- please contact me at david (at) elect esrati dot com and I’ll get a voter list for your neighborhood- and a petition to you. It’s a great way to meet your neighbors.

I ask that each person get at least 40 verified signatures (one petition). For all the time I’ve spent supplying you with news and info for discussion on this site- this is one of the few times I’ve asked for something in return. Please consider helping me give voters a choice this May in a primary.